The present invention relates generally to video games, and more particularly to video poker games. In the art of video gambling machines, video poker games generally involve the popular "Jacks or Better" poker game which is played with a standard fifty-two card deck wherein the player must obtain a hand of at least a pair of Jacks or better to win. Poker is played on a video screen. The game, including the card deck, is simulated in software which is executed by an internal microprocessor.
During game play, the player makes a wager, the deck is shuffled and cut and five cards are dealt to the player face up on the CRT. After review of the cards, the player chooses to hold from zero to five cards and discards the remainder. Additional cards are dealt to replace the cards that the player discarded. At this point, the final hand is evaluated and compared to a pay table stored in the memory associated with the microprocessor to see if the player has won or lost the wager. If the player has won, the player is paid the amount for the winning hand as listed in the pay table.
It is desirable for manufacturers of video poker games to provide a game in which certain payoff values are increased. The multi-pay poker game of the present invention is an improvement over typical video poker games because some of the payoffs made are higher when compared to typical games. Higher payoff values are achieved by compensating the player not only for the high paying hand, but also for any constituent lower paying hands which are sub-sets of the high paying hand.
For example, if a player were to have a royal flush, that player would be paid, according to the present invention, for (1) a royal flush, (2) a straight flush, (3) a straight and (4) a flush. On the other hand, if the player were playing a typical video poker game, the player would only be paid for the value of the royal flush. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-pay video poker game which provides higher payoff levels due to the inclusion of the values of the constituent sub-hands of the various winning poker hands.